Tour de France : Belgian Scores a Narrow Win; Hinault Retains Overall Lead

Belgian Franck Hoste edged Silvano Contini of Italy Friday to take the 139.8-mile 15th stage of the Tour de France bicycle race.

Hoste covered the mainly flat stage from Carcassone to Nimes in the wind in 5 hours 52 minutes 31 seconds. Contini trailed by less than a second.

Belgian Rony Van Holen was third, six seconds off the pace, and Dutchman Mathieu Hermans, leading a pack of 50 riders, came in fourth, eight seconds behind.

Frenchman Bernard Hinault, five-time winner of the Tour, retained the overall lead. Teammate Greg LeMond of the United States remained in second place, 34 seconds back.

Switzerland’s Urs Zimmermann was third overall, 2:58 behind Hinault; Britain’s Robert Millar was fourth, 3:32 back, and Spain’s Pedro Delgado was fifth, 6:46 back.

Hoste led a 12-man escape about 31 miles from the finish. They gained a minute over the rest of the riders, but the pack, carefully controlled by the La Vie Claire team’s Hinault and LeMond, kept on their tail. Then, about three miles from the finish, Hoste, Contini, and Van Holen moved ahead of the escape group.

Colorado cyclist Davis Phinney fell and suffered a broken hand. He will miss the remaining eight days of the race.